Night
by In The Twilight's Flames
Summary: Can you see how dark it truly is?
1. Chapter 1

**Night.**

They say that light shines the brightest in the darkest of nights.

If that were so, then a candle would shine brighter than the sun.

But it doesn't.

It hardly shines at all.

I can barely see him under its glow.

"Zack, is that you?" he asks as I walk by.

"Yeah. How's the arm?"

Taking the seat beside him, I see the stain seeping through the bandages.

I grasp it loosely, eyeing it for signs of poison.

Would it be wrong to say I was disappointed to see none?

Poison is a swift death, and a painless one at that.

Out there on the battlefield, there is no guarantee.

You could be dead in a second, or left there fatally wounded for hours, waiting for the last of your blood to pour out.

I've seen it far too often.

Friends to whom I could only deliver the final blow.

Some would say that was cruel, inhuman even.

After so long on the battlefield, I oftentimes wonder if I'm still human myself.

"I'll live," he says, completely unwrapping it for now. He flinches at the sting of fresh air on it.

I want to respond '_How long'_ to him but surely he knows as well as the rest of us.

The numbers.

The reports.

And the darkness that invades our every moment.

No one can lie and say it isn't real

No one can hide in the shelter of hope.

No one, not even I, can dream of a time when this will pass.

Some said the truest of humanity would be born in the absence of hope.

Poets spoke words of wisdom.

Musicians played hymns of hope.

Preachers gave speeches of salvation.

But it's funny how little words truly mean.

When one is kept from the light, the chords can only carry a man so far.

Loving promises feel so far away when family is only a memory.

One might wonder how I made it through, taken from my friends, kept in their claws for reasons I never learned.

It's scary what one will become when it's a matter of survival.

It wasn't even life then, only survival.

I sit silently with my brother for a time, his cot barely enough room for him, but we make it work.

Words are sparse between us.

They have been ever since I got back.

We know any words would only bring the fear back.

We know the nightmares

We know the loss

We know the times we tried to drown away the pain.

But it remains, just the same.

"We assemble in 15," the general says.

"Yes sir," we instinctively reply.

What some time in the military does to a man.

People join for many reasons.

Some for glory

Some to protect

Some for a new life

And some, like me, not knowing what the hell they're getting into.

"Are you ready?" I ask after a few more silent seconds.

"Are we ever?" he asks with weary eyes. Eyes that have seen too much, cried too much, eyes that lost their innocent gleam long ago.

He fiddles with his boot, the wrong size making it difficult for him. I lean over next to him, help him slide the swollen ankle into it.

"Thanks."

This close, I can see the sweat building on his brow, despite the frozen air.

He's scared.

He tries not to let it show, all of us do, because we all know, any fear will destroy us. We're only together because we have no other choice, held by the foolish assumption that strength in numbers is the only way we can survive.

But numbers aren't on our side.

We're outnumbered ten to one, and that's only the enemy that's here.

Supplies aren't on our side.

We've had to cut back meals to almost nothing, our weapons are held together by duct tape and prayer.

Endurance isn't on our side.

The enemy can travel hundreds of miles in a day, and still have the stamina to fight for hours on end.

Fighting ability isn't on our side.

Our leaders know nothing of war; many of our solders are kids, never properly trained how to use a weapon or how to survive when war breaks out.

Hope is not on our side.

We have no hope

We hold no light

We see no victory

And yet…we fight.

"Zack?"

"Yeah Cody?"

"I love you."

"Love you too buddy."

Is love enough to turn back the darkness?

I doubt it.

But it's the only weapon we've got.

* * *

**A/N **A piece brought forth from the sudden bursts of inspiration I love so well.

Image taken from: deviantart dot com slash ?qh=§ion=&q=night#/dv7pee


	2. Chapter 2:the blackness of a human heart

**A/N: **The place where humanity reaches its bleakest point is truly a frightening place to journey. Let this be a warning to some, a call to others. Let us join together and see what we may learn.

**Night Chapter 2: The blackness of a human heart**

"Zack?"

"Yeah Cody?"

"When they took you prisoner," he pauses. No surprise. I know the question, it's the one everyone has, ever since I got back.

"You wanna know what happened?"

I lean against the wall of the tent. Not very sturdy, but it holds me.

He nods looking down. I might see a tear from him.

He has a right to know I guess. They say it was two years, something I just trusted them with. Time there was a blur, it could have been a day or a century, I'd believe either.

Sighing again, I think back.

This wasn't the first time he asked.

At first, his curiosity knew no bounds. Questions rained upon me until I snapped.

Yeah, shouldn't have yelled at him, but who wants to remember that. Told him I'd tell him later, that made the questions come less. I'd ask about him, what it was like joining the military instead.

Never thought someone like him would join. But he knew they needed anyone who could fight. And while he might have barely been able to hold a weapon, he was a warm body.

It's funny what time does.

Funny how it makes the impossible reality, makes dreams die and nightmares live.

"So."

I think, pause, wonder.

They told us that it was natural to keep these things inside. That it was best to forget it, not burden the innocent with those stories.

"You sure you want to hear it?"

Fold my hands

Stare at the celling.

See him nod.

Can't hurt. We'll probably be dead in a day anyway.

I remember.

Embrace the pain.

See their faces.

Ponder the questions once more.

Remember the tears.

…

The mission was simple. Find out who they were, what they wanted. If possible, find a way to peace. Otherwise, get out, blow up what we could beforehand.

The first day in their land was quiet.

The second, they struck.

Their numbers overwhelmed us.

We never knew where they came from, but within a second, our numbers were sliced in half.

The rest of us tried fighting.

Resistance failed.

I saw men torn apart, the creatures' claws devouring flesh. Guns failed. A couple shots hit.

But soon, I was alone.

Why me?

Why not another?

Was it luck or fate?

Design or random?

Never found out.

Just laid down my gun, readied for the final blow.

Saw them over me, a claw coming down.

Thought that would be the end.

It wasn't.

Instead woke up in a room. All stone, no windows, no doors, pitch black.

Tried standing up, lights suddenly blinded me. Then saw I was wearing a grey robe.

Never knew how I got in there, how the food appeared, how the days passed.

Those I expected.

Sure, I plotted a way out. Looked for hope.

But it was all the same. The same room, the same food, the same light when I woke up and dark when I slept.

They were watching, I knew it.

But why?

That I didn't.

I lived.

I existed.

That was all.

For a while.

Then the day came, I woke up.

Saw a blade beside me. A sword, nothing like I'd seen before.

Sharp, light, the handle made for my grip.

But why?

To strike them?

To fight back?

But no, I saw soon enough. The wall raised, a meal of pure steak and chicken and ice-cream revealed.

I couldn't control the droll. After all the time of tasteless food, this was something I had to have.

Then I saw it.

A man I once knew, a solider.

One of my men.

He was naked. His bones showing through his skin. His arm was covered with burns and his head was scarred.

What had they done to him?

What horrors?

Why him?

Why not me?

This food…it made sense.

I saw the blade beside him, just like mine.

It was a test.

An experiment.

Wrought by an evil mind who I wanted to shove that sword through.

They thought we'd fight over this. Kill for it.

He needed it more than me.

As much as I wanted it

And then… we could flee.

Or so I thought.

But soon I saw, we'd never get that chance.

Driven by madness, his humanity buried by whatever they did, he had no words. He gripped his blade, and ran at me.

They say it's not wrong to kill in self-defense.

But what if it's a helpless man?

What if he's going to die anyway?

What if it's a death of mercy?

It's funny, how quickly instincts overcome morality.

A simple blow to disarm, gone wrong with a jerk of the wrist.

No, that blow wasn't lethal.

Not immediately.

And his voice, the crackle of a monster, not the words of a human.

I stood over him.

A man I knew.

A man I loved.

A man I would die for.

That man, I ensured died with the second blow.

The food, my reward, I refused.

For days, I'm sure.

But it was still there, every time I woke up. Never spoiled, never replaced.

Taunting, begging.

But every time, I thought about him. Even if the body had been removed long ago, his blood stains on the floor gone, they remained on my robe.

One day, my hunger became too much. I ate.

The flavors so sweet, so juicy. My stomach craved more. The sweet juices of the steak felt so good. I almost forgot where I was. What I had to do to get this.

But I didn't stop eating.

I couldn't.

My body craved it, needed it.

Ate it.

The ice-cream, my favorite flavor, the best I ever had.

I consumed it all, left not even a crumb.

Then laid down. Saw the blade so close. Saw the blood on it.

And puked.

I couldn't believe what I did. I killed a man for food.

Was I even human?

The glint of the blade called me…

Could I end this?

Let this life go?

Show them they didn't control me and break free.

I grabbed the blade, held it against my neck. Felt a few drops of blood fall.

Could I do it?

Would they let me?

Should I test it?

I didn't.

I dropped the blade.

I would live.

(If this was something to call life)

I would defeat them.

(If there was hope that I could)

I would overcome.

(Thought I had no idea how)

…

"Wow," Cody says.

"Though their plans weren't over yet."


	3. Chapter 3: To Be Human

**Chapter 3: To Be Human**

It's funny, isn't it?

When the endless night finally caves to day

Only you've been blind for so long, you don't know what light is.

You run toward it, let it blanket you in it's worth.

Only for your eyes to be open to the darkest shade of black ever known.

We're funny creatures aren't we?

Like puppets on strings we can't see, shouting from the stage things as fragile as hopes and dreams.

But just like shattered glass, so shall become our beliefs.

…

Let me take you back to that day.

When the flesh knew nothing of humanity, only of survival.

Days after I killed for food, slaughtered for substance.

How many days you ask?

Couldn't tell you.

Couldn't even tell you what a number was back then.

A calendar would mean less to me than Ancient Egyptian.

Each day, the sword in front of me, the crimson glow of blood splashed along metal the first thing for my eyes to see.

Don't know how, I'd throw it across the room, hide it behind my back, or even lay on top of it to hide from its gaze.

Never worked.

Except this day when I awoke.

No light, only night.

But I rested for a moment, letting the images form.

Eyes can get used to the dark, make out images we'd otherwise never see. They even say a blind man can see, but in a way the seeing could never believe.

I see it's one of them.

I remember the pain.

Of their kind, stealing our lives, the blood coating the land like an ocean.

I alone left alive, a lab rat for what I hoped could be forgotten.

My mind wasted no time in thinking, the instincts of a solider brought back to my mind. The blade, the instrument of my torture had become the instrument of my escape.

I don't remember the swing, but I remember the taste.

The cries of vengeance, the quest for revenge, the lust for justice.

Did it die in scream or silence, in pain or bliss?

It's funny, when a mind awakes to life in the presence of hope, things like that don't matter.

Them my eyes saw something new, a door, a way out.

A gate for freedom, one I leapt through without a second thought.

The days had worn on my body, my legs ached as if my legs were covered with rust, forgetting how to run.

But they learned soon enough.

The light soon shown anew, not the blinding lights of the days of the room, but a soft light, one meant for a human.

I wondered, what was a human?

Is that what they wanted?

To know?

To see the human heart, the human spirit?

Was that still me?

Or just a caged animal desperately crawling for freedom.

Then I heard it.

A scream.

One that chilled my heart, but that told me I still had one.

The voice echoed around, and I turned to find its source.

Who?

I knew it.

What?

I didn't know.

But the high pitched cry, so desperate, so sorrowful.

A soldier's job was to protect the weak. That much I remembered. That vow I made.

That much drove me to run.

Maybe that was what it meant to be a human?

To run after something without seeing, to protect without a second thought

Or maybe…

It was love that the night could not steal, love that persevered no matter how dark, a love that remembered no matter how long.

In any case, I ran, the metal floor pounding like a drum with each step.

It's funny.

When a human heart awakens after a long slumber, like it had never slept.

When a soul awakens to the light of hope.

When a body is given a cause a reason to run.

Nothing can stay the same.

The scream slashed at my ears again, as my eyes go red with blood.

Fury filled my fingers, justice demanded I wrap my fingers around the hilt of the blade.

Closer I ran.

And then I saw them.

Their grotesque heads turned to me.

In a second, their heads fell, separated from their bodies.

Above me, he lay, a boy so young, brown hair covering his face, laying on the ground.

Breaths stop as I see.

Walking, I fell to my knees.

There he is, so small, yet the spitting image of me.

"Jayden," my voice, one I'd forgotten the sound of, cried out.

His head rises, and I see those beautiful blue eyes.

"Dad?"


	4. Chap 4: The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas

**Night Chapter 4: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas**

It was the darkest night I had ever thought I could know, but standing before me, was the light that cast away every shadow and doubt. I held him close, memories flooding through every crevice of my eyes. No longer was I the soldier hardened by war and torture, but I was something more, something that felt compassion and kindness, and the courage to be more than a robot fighting for what he was told.

I wondered just how much he knew, how much he saw. The questions rattled against my skull, of the horrors that no son of mine should ever have to face. But as his beautiful eyes looked up at mine I could tell they lost their innocent gleam. How old was he now? How many days had it been?

"I'm here now," I said, words something I could have forgotten, them only coming out my mouth, though I had no idea from where they rang.

"W-where…w-when…" he stuttered.

His fear filled him, his body shaking.

And I hadn't been able to do a damn thing to help.

"Let's get out of here."

Did the circumstances matter?

Probably.

Maybe.

The lessons of being a soldier stated that we should know before we jump into danger.

But the rules of fatherhood stated that protecting Jayden was above all.

"I-I can't walk."

He crawled forward, his legs were as limp as rubber, and I saw how thin they were, twisting in ways that they never should have.

Tears I didn't think I had fell to the floor.

So instead I bent down, setting him on my shoulders.

He leaned against my head, lighter than I had remembered.

"How old are you now?"

I hesitated to ask the question, knowing that any answer would crush me. But I had to know, had to face the horrors that they had done.

Hate,

It's a powerful thing.

Makes us forget all about peace and love until the loss is avenged.

Weapons of words or metal

They're all the same.

Unleashed with full fury until the foe breaks or the avenger dies.

Not always a physical death, sometimes something much more painful.

I wielded the sword they gave me.

The sharp edges etched with that hate.

By hate I would overcome, destroy them all, until there was nothing left.

That's why I had to know, had to experience the true power of hatred.

So I could unleash that all, until there was nothing left.

"I turned 10 a week before they came."

Two years…

They had stolen from me.

They had stolen from my son, when he should have had a dad.

Did they worry about me? Did they think I was dead?

Did they give up hope?

"It was terrible. They went after Mom first. She tried hiding me, but I saw her die."

My wife…

The one I vowed to love for all my life.

Hate does many things to a person.

Makes them cry, makes them cuss, makes them devise the most terrible tortures to unleash upon those unsuspecting souls.

No…

That would be giving them too much credit. They had no soul. They were simply monsters, abominations of creation that needed to be destroyed. Wiped from existence.

"I swear…I'll…"

Words couldn't compose my threats. Sentences couldn't carry my hate.

I looked down to the metal floor seeing it shake, the footsteps on their way.

Of course, they wouldn't let us get away. We were they're prized prisoners, the heart of whatever twisted research they had planned. That's okay, it was for the best even. This way I'd be the one.

Tear them apart.

Rip them limb from limb.

What, did they thing I was weak?

Afraid?

Beaten?

No…they couldn't understand.

I'd show them a ferocity they had never imagined.

War…

They think it so simple.

But they wanted to see what it meant to be a human

They'd get that.

Then they'd see as their lives ended.

Test me, break me.

But know I won't back down.

Closer

Their feet march.

Is this a human?

The never ending spirit?

The drive to win?

The need, not a want, to overcome?

The human spirit isn't so simple, can't be mapped with a simple word or phrase.

But that's what makes us human.

They emerged, a sword drove through them.

One after another.

With rhythm I didn't know I had I danced among them, the fury, the power, the sword carving them like the beasts they truely were. Jayden held on, closing his eyes, but didn't let go as the bodies flew over him.

He should have never seen this.

But he'd seen worse.

I wouldn't let his life end here, he'd lost so much, been alone for so long.

His happiness, the only thing I could give him. A future where he could live and breathe in peace.

"Are you okay?"

A dozen fell.

The two of us still alive.

"Uh-huh."

"Good."

"A little bit dizzy."

"Sorry."

"No, that's a good thing. I like being dizzy. It reminds me of when you used to spin me around in circles."

"I'll get you out of here and we can do that again. I promise."

"You don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"Mom and I were one of the last ones left. They came and took everything, everyone. We thought it meant you had lost."

Had I lost? Were there any of us left? We were the last humans alive?

Perhaps, but did that mean we'd give up, let them win. Maybe there wasn't much left, but we were the ones who would do the impossible.

I thought back to that night. When our family was whole, and knew nothing of what war meant. He ran to me, grabbed my legs and hugged me with such joy. I had almost forgotten the image, of him running to bed in his striped pajamas.

So innocent.

I was to come back soon, complete some training be back with my family.

It had been so long.

He'd changed.

Grown up in ways he never should have.

"Up ahead Dad."

I saw them, readied the weapon they had so foolishly given me.

But as each one took their place, I saw numbers beyond counting, weapons I had never seen before. But then out of the corner of my eye, I saw something else, something far more wonderful and beautiful.

Sunlight on this dark and twisted world.

But sunlight nonetheless.

I ran.

And they ran at us

An explosion rang out in front of me, tossing Jayden and I like ragdolls through the air. We landed, his cries of pain slicing at my ears. I didn't know his injures, I didn't want to know.

Instead I just picked him up and ran, seeing such wondrous escape, such wondrous freedom. Their weapons tore at me, left me bloody, beaten, but beyond belief,

No pain.

It's funny.

What hope can do.

What the light of freedom does to a person.

Any other time, I'd be on the ground in pain.

We were trained to resist, but this was something more.

Did they see, did they think they could stop me?

Who could say?

Instead, I just ran faster.

"Dad."

A voice dry, a voice of fear.

His breaths, so distance. He coughed, such weakness.

I felt the blood drip over my feet. The blood, not just my own.

I ignored it…pushed it aside.

Only ran.

Finally, freedom.

And then I saw it…an army…one I knew.

There was hope, they had come. Explosions of the B-22s. The charge of the marines

Freedom.

My men.

My people.

They charged, the fire unleashed upon our foe making me forget all too quickly what the night was, what the pain felt like.

The rockets' red glare bombarded them, lighting up the sky like the Fourth of July

Bombs burst around us, their inhuman screams crying out.

This was the proof.

They wanted to know what a human truly was. Now they'd die because of that answer.

It was the love that never gave up, a hope that never waned, a faith through the fiercest drought and storm.

They'd see; they'd experience it all.

And be given the hell they deserved for thinking they could stop it.

But I knew this freedom wasn't for us all. In my arms, one who had fallen.

The one I had failed.

The one I loved.

But like before, could do nothing to stop.

What was does a victory mean if you can't protect the weak?

Could I have run faster, fought harder, cared deeper?

I didn't know.

But one thing I did know.

The cruel hands of fate cannot be unwound.


	5. Chapter 5: Truth

**Chapter 5: Truth**

I'd like to tell you all that was true.

I'll like to say I was an honest man, a righteous soul in the midst of all adversity.

I'd like to say I was a hero, the one who would make any sacrifice, see the good when even a terrible evil was all that filled my vision.

I'd like to say a lot of things.

That I wasn't a liar

That I wasn't a murderer.

Sure, tell me what you will. That killing in self-defense is right, or at least not wrong.

I'd like to agree with you, take comfort in your moral words.

You want me to be your hero, don't you? The hero that endures the night for a new day.

I'd like to be that hero.

But really, you don't want me

Maybe you want my brother, maybe my son, maybe any of those other damn fools who lost their lives that day.

No, you don't want me.

I was the one who they released that day, naked, scared, beyond hope or humanity. I'd like to say I was the one who killed in self-defense, and that I wasn't the one who struck that noble man down in primal hunger.

I'd like to say it was the feast I ate as guilt gnawed at me, not the flesh of the honorable soldier.

Humanity is a funny thing, falls apart so easily. I'd like to say I was the exception.

I'd like to say my son recognized me, not fled from my sights, seeing me as no different than those monsters. I'd like to say he loved me, hugged me the moment we met again.

I'd like to say I didn't have to beg him, using words I'd nearly forgotten how to use.

I'd like to say seeing him restored my humanity, my hope in a world where love stood a chance.

I'd like to say he died in my arms as I fled, not left by the wayside to be trampled underfoot.

I'd like to think his death mattered, that he could have lived for a bright future.

But you know, it's probably for the best he died there.

He'd lived enough pain for a thousand lifetimes.

He didn't deserve anymore.

Cody leaves the room, and I sit, the story more than he can take. Even my heroic version of it.

I can't blame him though. He wanted to know, so I told him, couldn't let him die with those burning questions.

Why lie you ask?

Why tell the truth?

Now maybe he can die with a smile, think he's a hero.

Maybe he could try doing something more, maybe he'd die with hope.

It's too late for me.

I've seen the end of humanity.

Their plans, my heart, it's already here.

I'm weak, we're nothing.

What can we do?

Just live these lies.

Believe that our world is safe.

That our loved ones are at home waiting.

Not that we're the last, not that we're the final breath that will fade.

Faith, hope and love.

These three remain,

But as the stars shoot across the sky so far away,

I know how this will be their last day.

"You ready?"

Didn't even notice him return.

"Commander wants us to assemble."

"Let's go."

I lead us in silence, boots marching to death all around us.


End file.
